Taste-Safe Pumpkin Playdough Recipe

Taste-safe natural pumpkin no-cook playdough recipe is ridiculously easy to make at home for toddlers, preschoolers, and kindergartners to enjoy sensory play.

Pumpkin playdough recipe is the best ever, no-cook natural playdough that is taste-safe for your child and safe for the environment! Besides, this playdough is so easy to make, and in just five minutes, without cooking, you will be making a tactile play tool that will last you for months! Playdough is an amazing sensory way to engage the little hands while igniting the little minds! In fact, playdough, besides being a fantastic therapeutical tool, also fosters creativity, imagination and promotes fine motor skills! And, it is the best natural material for small world play! Most importantly, by making it yourself, you know exactly what is in it, and you can customize it in so many ways!

First, in a bowl, combine the flour, salt, and cream of tartar. (With the flour, measure accurately and tap any excess air bubbles which might have formed. Also, press down with a fork to compress the flour even more.) Then, add vegetable oil and mix well. Thereafter, add the pumpkin spice.

Separately, add the food coloring into the boiling water before adding it to other ingredients. As a final step, pour the colored boiling water into the bowl and start mixing immediately with a spatula or a fork. Mix everything well until it all binds together. Once it is warm enough to the touch, take it out and knead it with your hands until the mixture is no longer sticky.

TIPS on how to use/modify your homemade playdough recipe:

Texture: If, your play-dough is still sticky after it has completely cooled down, add more flour – one tablespoon at a time. Alternatively, if after use or storage, play dough becomes dry, brittle or crumbly, add some oil and mend it with hands until soft.

Storage: once the play dough is fully cooled down, wrap and tie it in a food wrap and store in an airtight container or a plastic zip-lock bag, squeezing all the air out. Store in a refrigerator for about six months. Before using the play-dough again, take it out and let “defrost” a little to regain its softness.

Taste-safe flavored: You can customize your play-dough by adding spices, chocolate powder or even flower petals. If you are adding chamomile or flower petals, soak them in a little bit of water for a while, and either blend in a blender or crush them with a pestle or smoosh around with a fork, before adding to the boiling water.

Why home-made play dough?

And why is this the best home-made playdough recipe? Because you can modify this taste-safe pumpkin playdough recipe in so many ways! For example, you can skip the pumpkin spice and add other natural flavors. Alternatively, you can make different colors by using natural dies like cabbage (for purple), matcha tea (for green) or blueberry (for blue). Lastly, you can add sparkles or glitter or even essential oil, however, this will make your playdough no longer taste-safe.

Did you know that using play-dough provides a wide array of developmental, learning, and especially sensory benefits? Tactile stimulation is extremely important for the developing brain since the “sensitive period” from birth until the age of four is sensory refinement. And “what the hand does, the mind remembers …. the hands [being] the instruments of man’s intelligence.” – Dr. Maria Montessori. So, offer multidimensional sensorial invitations to play to stimulate the little minds while developing the little hands with this best homemade playdough recipe!